Policy Entrepreneur

Policy entrepreneur refers to persons who take advantage of influencing policy results to fulfill their objectives in the absence of any resources to achieve them. They tend to be a special political actor class displaying general attributes and using normal strategies to steer dynamic changes in societal norms.

Different global powers are raising new demand for policy entrepreneurship. Their main focus is promoting innovation, which is pursued through activities such as seeking attention and opportunities, problem framing, solution development, and building a coalition to support these. They can successfully exert influence over existing policy frameworks, leading to positive effects on society and the economy.

Policy entrepreneurs are energetic individuals who passionately promote policy ideas surrounding and within the government. They work just like any entrepreneur who devotes their time, money, energy, and attention to future gain. However, they must have specific skills, attributes, and strategies to work efficiently in their domain.

 All such entrepreneurs deploy specific strategies in their work as listed below:

• They have mastered the art of problem framing using evidence suggesting impending crisis, searching for ways to underscore the current policy settings as a failure, and taking support from anchors going beyond the realm of the issue.
• They use the leverage of contacts networks or policy entrepreneur networks, having imbibed vast repositories of knowledge and skills to draw for supporting their innovations.
• They have the knack for building upon and working with advocacy coalitions, deploying the shared beliefs of members over main policy matters.
• They lead the charge, making others believe in the pursuit of policy change. They win the credibility of their actions by grabbing an idea, transforming it into actions, and building momentum for change.
• They focus more on scaling up their efforts to promote policy change and increase their advocacy works.

Besides these, entrepreneur of policy uses a three-pronged approach to convey their message and convert them into policy action. They weave and narrate excellent stories to grab the audience's attention, motivating the audience to demand more information about their idea. They are always ready with the solution of the problem they narrate. They also have an adaptability quotient, which helps them modify their strategy in changing environments.

Their works have had far-reaching implications, such as disrupting unchanged policies and resulting in sustainable and effective governance. Their influence extends outside the policy areas, affecting a broader spectrum of environmental and societal outcomes.

Anyone desirous of becoming such an entrepreneur must have the following characteristics:

• They have ambitions to invest in different resources, hoping to get returns in the future.
• They have inbuilt social understanding in them that allows them to know the manner in which people think about their problems, motivate others, appreciate others' worries, and prepare an effective plan to extensively use their networks, contacts, political support, and policy arguments to serve their purpose.
• They have a great deal of credibility, the narrative of others’ lives and past successes in a compelling manner, have demonstrated expertise in any field, and have held important positions in or related to government.
• They must possess a high degree of sociability to have the ability to empathize with other individuals, feel their pain, and know their needs. Using sociability, they can easily widen their network base and form strong advocacy coalitions.
• These also have a significant level of tenacious nature that propels them towards their objective in the absence of any feasible goal in sight. It helps them to operate successfully in areas where one has quite slim chances of success.

If one wants to become a policy entrepreneur, then one must have the following crucial strategies, skills, and attributes:

• To steer policy change through tenacity and ambitions
• Social acuity for influencing others and interpreting social situations
• Has relevant credibility to break the barrier of relevant tests concerning policy
• Abel to collaborate and socialize with others
• Ready and eager to face risks and sustain through setbacks
• Developing unique solutions and strategically framing problems
• Having complementary skills to collaborate with others using own team-building capacity
• Evidence gathering supporting policy arguments
• Persuasive argumentation technique to create compelling cases related to dynamic audiences
• Navigating the political landscape through negotiations
• Building connections using networking
• Define issues using problem framing in a compelling manner
• Access influence and resources by building and using networks
• Amplify policy communications using advocacy coalition formation
• Having leadership qualities to demonstrate the ability to work on policy changes
• Achieving wider impact by scaling up workable change processes

It has various importance in policy-making, including:

• They help bring suitable change in the policies of the government to steer the growth forward
• They bring innovation in policy framing
• Their expertise can help define problems, frame necessary policy resolutions, and argue for their execution
• Their thoughts and actions have led to vital shifts in the direction of policies
• They have also addressed severe and imminent social problems
• Their guidance and strategies have led to improved governance and a better life for the citizens
• It has helped in developing policy changes covering various contexts in developing countries
• Their attributes, policy entrepreneurship, and strategies could be nurtured and passed onto the newer generation, making them significant tools in policymaking procedures
• They also influence financial policies, encouraging sustainable and more inclusive financial systems
• Their efforts could lead to highly equitable and better-regulated financial services, giving benefits to the economy and the individual